Occupy Bernal succeeds in stalling foreclosures

ON SAN FRANCISCO

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, May 5, 2012

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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Mike Pincus, (left) and Stardust, (right) speak to auctioneers Terry Redmon, after she read a list of postponed foreclosures, none were auctioned off today, as members of Occupy Bernal pickets the foreclosure auctions daily on the steps of City Hall, on Friday May 4, 2012, in San Francisco, Ca. less

Mike Pincus, (left) and Stardust, (right) speak to auctioneers Terry Redmon, after she read a list of postponed foreclosures, none were auctioned off today, as members of Occupy Bernal pickets the foreclosure ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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Descriptive flyers and posters of Wells Fargo executive John Stumpf, as members of Occupy Bernal picket the foreclosure auctions held on the steps of City Hall, on Friday May 4, 2012, in San Francisco, Ca. No properties were auctioned today, just a list of postponed foreclosures were read. less

Descriptive flyers and posters of Wells Fargo executive John Stumpf, as members of Occupy Bernal picket the foreclosure auctions held on the steps of City Hall, on Friday May 4, 2012, in San Francisco, Ca. ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Occupy Bernal succeeds in stalling foreclosures

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An organization founded by a porn performer, a Summer of Love radical, and a guy named Stardust Darkmatterji, is challenging the eviction of homeowners in their Bernal Heights neighborhood. For the past week the group has been staging very polite, but noisy, demonstrations next to the steps of City Hall to disrupt bank auctions.

And as offbeat as they are, their '60s street theater is actually getting results.

Friday a small collection of gray-haired, sign-toting, whistle-blowing members of Occupy Bernal delayed the potential sale of a dozen foreclosed properties at the auction. Stardust - real name Will Doherty - declared victory.

"No one lost their house today," said Doherty, who says he has a degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Of course, the issues of bank meltdowns, the mortgage crisis and defaulting homeowners are complicated. But it seems every neighborhood knows someone who wasn't served well by his bank. When responsible homeowners find themselves underwater on their mortgages, there's a sense of hopelessness.

Occupy Bernal disagrees, and if it means staging old-fashioned protest marches in front of the residence of the Wells Fargo CEO - as they did in February - or blowing police whistles to disrupt the auction (after first handing out free ear plugs to everyone), they are taking action. Their noisy, funky tactics have been far more effective than the Occupy wannabes marching up and down the city streets and smashing the windows of small businesses.

"I think that's the real story," said Buck Bagot, a longtime community organizer, who helped found the organization when a neighbor, porn performer Annie Sprinkle, alerted him to a neighbor about to lose his house. "We're activists in the neighborhood taking on issues that affect us day to day."

This week's cause was a couple, Washington and Maria Davila, who have been renting a home in Bernal for seven years. The bank was planning to auction off the property Saturday because the Las Vegas owner, who they say is suffering from cancer, can't make the payments. But in the face of a large planned, whistle-tooting protest, the sale was postponed.

"I've seen people that have gotten a lot of hope," said Supervisor John Avalos, whose district includes Bernal Heights. "Evictions that were scheduled have been canceled and loans have been modified. It creates pressure, which leads to modification."

Granted, some of the auctions involve homeowners who simply borrowed too much; however, some are trying to take responsibility. Particularly vexing is "double tracking," which is where foreclosure proceedings are taking place while the owner is in the process of refinancing.

A report from San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting found that 84 percent of a sample of foreclosures in the city included at least one legal violation. Some were minor infractions, but even so.

"The tactics are a sign of the frustration almost everyone is feeling with the current system," Ting said. "The current system is broken. Hopefully, given all the dialogue and action going on, we will see more underwater families being able to refinance their loans and take advantage of these record-low interest rates."

That's the dream, and Occupy Bernal, although older and grayer, stands ready to fight until a modification can be made.

"If you'd told me six months ago I'd be working with Annie Sprinkle and a guy named Stardust," said Bagot, "I'd have told you I haven't done acid in a long time. But now, well, it may sound a little cocky, but we feel like we're the future of the Occupy movement."

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